Accurate heart rate measurement by radar using adaptive harmonics filter

ABSTRACT

Various examples are provided for accurate heart rate measurement. In one example, a method includes determining a respiratory rate (RR) and respiration displacement from radar-measured cardiorespiratory motion data; adjusting notch depths of a harmonics comb notch digital filter (HCNDF) based upon the respiration displacement; generating filtered cardiorespiratory data by filtering the radar-measured cardiorespiratory motion data with the HCNDF; and identifying a heart rate (HR) from the filtered cardiorespiratory data. In another example, a system includes radar circuitry configured to receive a cardiorespiratory motion signal reflected from a monitored subject; and signal processing circuitry configured to determine a respiration displacement based upon the cardiorespiratory motion signal; adjust notch depths of a HCNDF based upon the respiration displacement; filter the cardiorespiratory motion data with the HCNDF; and identifying a heart rate (HR) from the filtered cardiorespiratory data.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is the 35 U.S.C. § 371 national stage application ofPCT Application No. PCT/US2017/027597, filed Apr. 14, 2017, where thePCT application claims priority to, and the benefit of, U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/322,947, filed Apr. 15, 2016, both of whichare herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

Assessment of cardiorespiratory function is a fundamental requirement ina laboratory setting for physiological research. The physiological signsassociated with pain include fluctuations in respiratory rate (RR),heart rate (HR), blood pressure and body temperature. Monitoring signsof pain in a laboratory setting is critical for both ensuring animalwelfare and drug efficacy studies. A major concern for monitoringphysiological response lies in the fact that lab animals requiresurgical implantation and postoperative recovery prior to the major drugtest, which yields unintended effects or even death. The current methodsof physiological monitoring are often performed with contact sensors,such as electrocardiography (ECG). Developing a non-invasive method fordetecting an animal's physiological response to pain would be a vastimprovement over current behavioral or invasive methods for monitoringcardiorespiratory function.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the present disclosure are related to heart rate measurementby radar. A harmonics comb notch digital filter (HCNDF) can be used tothe heart rate from cardiorespiratory motion data.

In one aspect, among others, a method for heart rate measurementcomprises determining a respiratory rate (RR) and respirationdisplacement from radar-measured cardiorespiratory motion data;adjusting notch depths of a harmonics comb notch digital filter (HCNDF)based upon the respiration displacement; generating filteredcardiorespiratory data by filtering the radar-measured cardiorespiratorymotion data with the HCNDF; and identifying a heart rate (HR) from thefiltered cardiorespiratory data. A computing device can be used for oneor more operation. In one or more aspects, the respiration displacementcan be determined from a respiration fundamental frequency andrespiration demodulation-generated (DG) harmonics identified from theradar-measured cardiorespiratory motion data. The notch depths can bebased upon amplitudes of the respiration fundamental frequency and therespiration DG harmonics. The notch depths can be based upon one or moreratios of the respiration fundamental frequency and the respiration DGharmonics.

In one or more aspects, notch frequencies of the HCNDF can be adjustedbased upon the RR. The notch frequencies of the HCNDF can correspond toa fundamental frequency of the RR and harmonics of the fundamentalfrequency. The HCNDF can comprise notches corresponding to thefundamental frequency of the RR, a second harmonic frequency, and athird harmonic frequency. The HCNDF can further comprise notchescorresponding to a fourth harmonic frequency and a fifth harmonicfrequency. In one or more aspects, notch widths of the HCNDF can bebased upon a length of a time window over which the radar-measuredcardiorespiratory motion data was obtained. The notch widths of theHCNDF can be adjusted in response to a change in the length of the timewindow. The notch widths can be reduced in response to an increase inthe length of the time window. In one or more aspects, theradar-measured cardiorespiratory motion data can be obtained using a 60GHz radar.

In another embodiment, a system comprises radar circuitry configured totransmit a single-tone carrier signal and receive a cardiorespiratorymotion signal reflected from a monitored subject; and signal processingcircuitry configured to: determine a respiration displacement fromcardiorespiratory motion data based upon the cardiorespiratory motionsignal; adjust notch depths of a harmonics comb notch digital filter(HCNDF) based upon the respiration displacement; generate filteredcardiorespiratory data by filtering the cardiorespiratory motion datawith the HCNDF; and identifying a heart rate (HR) from the filteredcardiorespiratory data. In one or more aspects, the radar circuitry cancomprise a Doppler radar transceiver coupled to transmit and receiveantennas. A radar transceiver chip can comprise the radar circuitry andpatch antennas as the transmit and receive antennas. The radartransceiver chip and the patch antennas can be disposed on a commonsubstrate. The Doppler radar transceiver can operate at 60 GHz. Thesignal processing circuitry can comprise data acquisition circuitryconfigured to sample quadrature signals of the cardiorespiratory motionsignal and a processor configured to determine the respirationdisplacement and identify the HR based upon the sampled quadraturesignals.

In one or more aspects, the respiration displacement can be determinedfrom a respiration fundamental frequency and respirationdemodulation-generated (DG) harmonics identified from thecardiorespiratory motion data. The notch depths can be based uponamplitudes of the respiration fundamental frequency and the respirationDG harmonics. The signal processing circuitry can be configured toadjust notch frequencies of the HCNDF based upon a respiratory rate (RR)determined from the cardiorespiratory motion data. Notch widths of theHCNDF can be based upon a length of a time window over which thecardiorespiratory motion data was determined. The notch widths of theHCNDF can be adjusted in response to a change in the length of the timewindow.

Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art uponexamination of the following drawings and detailed description. It isintended that all such additional systems, methods, features, andadvantages be included within this description, be within the scope ofthe present disclosure, and be protected by the accompanying claims. Inaddition, all optional and preferred features and modifications of thedescribed embodiments are usable in all aspects of the disclosure taughtherein. Furthermore, the individual features of the dependent claims, aswell as all optional and preferred features and modifications of thedescribed embodiments are combinable and interchangeable with oneanother.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood withreference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings arenot necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1A is an example illustrating the relationship between vibrationdisplacement, Bessel functions, and generated harmonics, in accordancewith various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1B is an example of a baseband spectrum with identified respirationdemodulation-generated (DG) harmonics, in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a table listing the frequency and amplitude of DG harmonics ofthe spectrum of FIG. 1, in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an example of a theoretical plot of the value of a Besselfunction of the first kind and composition of DG harmonics, inaccordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an example of normalized CSD spectrums of four simulatedvibration patterns compared to the amplitude for the second and third DGharmonics, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 is an example of displacement extraction with DG harmonic ratiosof the simulated vibration patterns of FIG. 4, in accordance withvarious embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is an example of theoretical DG harmonic ratio versusdisplacement, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 7A and 7B is an example of an experimental setup for measuringcardiorespiratory movement of a laboratory rat, in accordance withvarious embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is an example of results from the cardiorespiratory movementmeasurements of a laboratory rat using the experimental setup of FIGS.7A and 7B, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 9 is a table illustrating the measured rate and calculateddisplacement of the results of FIG. 8, in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is an example of correlation diagrams of instrument-recordeddata and the radar-recorded data for test measurements using theexperimental setup of FIGS. 7A and 7B, in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are examples of respiratory displacement variation andRR variation for anesthetized laboratory rats, in accordance withvarious embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 13A and 13B illustrate an example of an adaptive harmonics combnotch digital filter (HCNDF), in accordance with various embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is an example of a theoretical plot of a nonlinear Doppler phasedemodulation effect, in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 15 is an example of the experimental setup used for measurements ofa laboratory rat, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 16A through 16C are examples of results from measurements oflaboratory rats using the experimental setup of FIG. 15 and the HCNDF,in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 17A-17C are examples of correlation diagrams illustratinginstrumentation calculated HR and radar-measured HR with and withoutapplying the HCNDF, in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart illustrating an example of the operation of theadaptive HCNDF, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 19 is a schematic block diagram of a computing system, inaccordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed herein are various examples of methods and systems related toheart rate measurement by radar. Reference will now be made in detail tothe description of the embodiments as illustrated in the drawings,wherein like reference numbers indicate like parts throughout theseveral views.

When using radar to perform non-contact measurement of vital signs(human or animal), both respiration and heartbeat are detected. Thesignal of respiration is often much larger than the signal of heartbeat(because of the different body displacements), and the harmonics of therespiration signal (produced by the nonlinear Doppler phase demodulationwhen the wavelength of radar frequency is approaching the same scale asthe respiration displacement) will interfere with the correct reading ofthe heartbeat signal, which is a much weaker signal. To solve thisproblem, an adaptive harmonics filter similar to a comb notch filter canbe used, but with adaptive attenuation at each harmonic frequencyimplemented in software (digital domain). The attenuation at eachharmonic frequency can be dynamically adjusted based on the signalstrength of each harmonic frequency. This way, the right amounts ofrespiration harmonics can be removed without affecting the heartbeatsignal, and the heartbeat signal can be enhanced to provide correctreading of heartbeat rate.

Chest wall movement caused by respiration and heartbeat activities canbe quantified with displacement and frequency. Some techniques formeasuring displacement of chest wall motion such as impulse cardiogram,capacitance transducer, and magnetic field sensor have been examined.However, they are contact measurements and may affect the measurementaccuracy. Laser speckle interferometry does not need body contact, butthe surface of the subject has to be smooth and no clothes are allowed.These unintended impacts can be avoided using radar. The development ofDoppler radar techniques link biomedical research with noncontactsensing, and brings up various applications. With the goal of developinga non-invasive and non-contact monitoring system for measuringcardiorespiratory movement of a laboratory rat, Doppler radar can beused. Measuring a small animal's vital signs with radar is morechallenging than measuring human vital signs due to the smaller chestwall movements. The millimeter-wave Doppler radar can be used for itscapability of detecting small movements.

Doppler radar can be used to detect vibration motion and determine bothdisplacement and frequency of the motion. A radar transceiver cantransmit an unmodulated signal T(t)=cos(2πft+ϕ) to the rat, where f isthe single-tone carrier frequency and ϕ is the residual phase, andreceives the movements x(t) induced by breathing and heartbeat. Thedisplacement of vibration movements can be extracted from the ratio ofmeasured harmonics in the baseband spectrum. One key advantage is thatno calibration is needed when the detection distance changes because themethod does not use the absolute power level of each harmonic but theratio between them. The use of a quadrature system and a complex signaldemodulation (CSD) technique can provide the flexibility of selectingharmonic pairs for the ratio. By using multiple harmonic pairs at afixed carrier frequency, the reliability of measuring the amplituderatio can be increased. However, monitoring the chest wall movement ofsmall animals by the millimeter-wave radar can cause severe nonlineareffects on the detected baseband spectrum due to the Doppler phasedemodulation method. With the capability of measuring both displacementand frequency of motion using radar, a method that utilizes thedemodulation-generated harmonics can successfully measure bothdisplacements and frequencies of both respiration and heartbeatmovements of the laboratory rat.

Compared to humans, rats have a significantly higher respiratory rate(RR) and heart rate (HR), which are associated with smaller chest-wallmovements. The respiration and heartbeat displacements of an adult ratis estimated to be less than 2 mm. A radar operating frequency as highas 60 GHz can be used to detect the small chest-wall movements. Sincethe wavelength at 60 GHz is 5 mm, and the movement amplitude that can beaccurately measured is estimated to be as small as 0.2 mm.

The method is based on the nonlinear Doppler phase demodulation thatanalyzes the demodulation-generated harmonics and extracteddisplacements from the harmonic ratios. It can be a potentialcardiorespiratory function monitor without electrode or cathetersurgical implantation in rats. An adaptive harmonics comb notch digitalfilter (HCNDF) for removing respiration harmonics is disclosed. Severaldetails will be discussed in the present disclosure. First, how toidentify the heart rate (HR) peak on the spectrum. Second, how toproperly choose the demodulation-generated harmonics for calculatingrespiration and heartbeat displacement. Third, if the respiration andheartbeat itself already contain harmonics, the influence of thosevibration-generated harmonics on displacement acquisition method shouldbe considered. Fourth, the detection of vibration displacement can bedetermined by the carrier frequency, and knowing the detection range isbeneficial. Finally, measurements were conducted using two differentdrugs and monitoring the cardiorespiratory response to the delivereddrugs over time.

A cardiorespiratory motion comprises respiration and heartbeat, and canbe modeled as a two-tone periodic movement x(t), which can be expressedas:x(t)=m _(r) sin(2πf _(r) t)+m _(h) sin(2πf _(h) t),  (1)where f_(r) is the respiration rate (RR), f_(h) is the HR, and m_(r) andm_(h) are the displacements due to respiration and heartbeat,respectively. When a Doppler radar transmits a single-tone carriersignal toward target, the reflected signal contains the information ofthe cardiorespiratory motion. By mixing the received signal with part ofthe transmitted signal as reference, the phase-modulated baseband signalcan be expressed as:

$\begin{matrix}{{{B(t)} = {\cos\left\lbrack {\frac{4\pi\;{x(t)}}{\lambda} + \phi} \right\rbrack}},} & (2)\end{matrix}$where λ is the carrier wavelength of radar signal, and ϕ is the totalresidual phase noise. If the displacement m is comparable to thewavelength λ, the small angle approximation cannot be applied. Since thequadrature (I/Q) radar is used, by applying a complex signaldemodulation (CSD) technique, the detected signal can be generated bycombining I and Q outputs. However, the nonlinear transfer functionproduces demodulation-generated (DG) harmonics. As a result, thebaseband signal comprises a number of DG harmonics of the fundamentalfrequency, which can be expressed with a series of the Bessel functions:

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{B(t)} = {{I(t)} + {{jQ}(t)}}} \\{{= {\sum\limits_{p = {- \infty}}^{\infty}\;{\sum\limits_{q = {{({x - {f_{h}p}})}/f_{r}}}^{\infty}\;{{J_{p}\left( a_{h} \right)}{{J_{q}\left( a_{r} \right)} \cdot e^{j\; 2\pi\;{xt}} \cdot e^{j\;\phi}}}}}},}\end{matrix} & (3)\end{matrix}$where J(a) is the first kind Bessel function, a_(r)=4πm_(r)/λ anda_(h)=4πm_(h)/λ, p and q are integers that satisfy x=f_(h)p+f_(r)q, andx represents the DG harmonic frequency.

Amplitude of the DG harmonics in the baseband spectrum can be determinedby residual phase ϕ, wavelength λ, and displacement of vibration m. Theterm e^(Jϕ) can be eliminated since quadrature architecture is used, andthe effect of the residual phase on amplitude can be neglected. FIG. 1Aillustrates the relationship of the vibration displacement, Besselfunctions and the generated harmonics. For a fixed displacement,different orders of Bessel functions correspond to different values, andresult in different amplitudes on the detected spectrum. Therefore, fora purely sinusoidal motion, the displacement can be determined from theratio of the DG harmonics; and for a complex periodic motion, multipleDG harmonic pairs can be used to create more equations to solve theunknown amplitudes of different frequency components.

For the cardiorespiratory motion, the DG harmonics contain frequencycomponents from both RR and HR, and the amplitude H_(x) can be expressedas:

$\begin{matrix}{H_{x} = {{{\sum\limits_{p = {- \infty}}^{\infty}\;{\sum\limits_{q = {{({x - {f_{h}p}})}/f_{r}}}^{\infty}\;{{J_{p}\left( a_{h} \right)}{J_{q}\left( a_{r} \right)}}}}}.}} & (4)\end{matrix}$DG harmonics shown in the baseband spectrum can be grouped into twocategories: the respiration and its DG harmonics, and the frequencymixing products of RR and HR. FIG. 1B illustrates an example of thebaseband spectrum with identified respiration DG harmonics and mixingproducts between heart rate (HR) and respiration rate (RR). The mixingproducts involving higher harmonics of heart rate will fall outside ofthe baseband of interest and are therefore not considered here. In orderto obtain a more accurate DG harmonic ratio that contains the strongestfrequency components from the RR, the first selected pair forrespiration displacement extraction is the H_(RR) and H_(2RR), and theratio can be shown as:

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{H_{RR}}{H_{2\;{RR}}} = {\frac{{{J_{0}\left( a_{h} \right)}{J_{1}\left( a_{r} \right)}}}{{{J_{0}\left( a_{h} \right)}{J_{2}\left( a_{r} \right)}}} = {\frac{{J_{1}\left( a_{r} \right)}}{{J_{2}\left( a_{r} \right)}}.}}} & (5)\end{matrix}$The two DG harmonics are chosen because they contain the informationinvolving different J_(q)(a_(r)) with the same J_(p)(a_(h)). Therefore,the same J₀(a_(h)) can be cancelled out, leaving the J_(q)(a_(r)) onlyfor calculating m_(r). The selection of DG harmonics with x>3RR may betoo small to be useful, and the three strongest harmonics are sufficientfor displacement extraction and can be expressed as:H _(RR) :H _(2RR) :H _(3RR) =|J ₁(a _(r))|:|J ₂(a _(r))|:|J ₃(a_(r))|.  (6)On the other hand, the heartbeat displacement is extracted by utilizingthe stronger mixing products between heart rate and respirationharmonics because the DG harmonics of heart rate are too small. Threemixing products, H_(HR−RR), H_(HR−2RR), and H_(HR−3RR), can be chosenand paired up with the respiration DG harmonics for calculating m_(h),as shown below:

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{H_{RR}}{H_{{HR} - {RR}}} = {\frac{H_{2\;{RR}}}{H_{{HR} - {2\;{RR}}}} = {\frac{H_{3\;{RR}}}{H_{{HR} - {3\;{RR}}}} = {\frac{{J_{0}\left( a_{h} \right)}}{{J_{1}\left( a_{h} \right)}}.}}}} & (7)\end{matrix}$

In addition to DG harmonics and vibration-generated (VG) harmonics,another possible source of harmonics is the nonlinearity of the RF andanalog circuits in receiver. These harmonics, however, can be controlledand eliminated by keeping signal level small enough to stay within thelinear region. In order to take advantage of the nonlinear Doppler phasedemodulation effect, it should be noted that the detection accuracydepends on the accuracy of DG harmonic ratio, which means the ratio ofm/λ will be important. The larger the ratio, the stronger the nonlineareffect, resulting in more DG harmonics generated on the spectrum. At afixed wavelength, if the displacement is too small compared to thewavelength, the detection accuracy may be degraded because it might notbe able to generate sufficient DG harmonics for obtaining the ratio. Inthe case of measuring laboratory rat's cardiorespiratory movement, thevibration displacement as well as the radar detection range at carrierwavelength will be discussed.

Heart Rate Identification.

As mentioned above, DG harmonics shown on the spectrum can be classifiedas respiration DG harmonics and HR-mixing products. The amplitude ofrespiration DG harmonics consist of the same J₀(a_(h)) and qth-orderBessel functions J_(q)(a_(r)). In other words, amplitudes of these DGharmonics will be determined by the J₀(a_(h))J_(q)(a_(r)). On the otherhand, it can also be observed from FIG. 1B that the HR mixes withrespiration DG harmonics, resulting in these mixing products in thespectrum. These frequency mixing products share the same J₁(a_(h)) withdifferent order of J_(q)(a_(r)), and are symmetrically centered aroundthe HR peak. The symmetry of mixing products is based on J_(q)(a_(r)),which means the amplitudes of these mixing products should maintain thesame ratio as respiration and its DG harmonics, thus the HRidentification possible.

In the example of FIG. 1B, the simulated cardiorespiratory motion is:x(t)=0.9·sin(2π·0.7·t)+0.2·sin(2π·7·t),  (8)where m_(r)=0.9 mm, m_(h)=0.2 mm, f_(r)=0.7 Hz, and f_(h)=7 Hz areassumed with small animal's vibration pattern. Based on equation (4),the frequency and amplitude of DG harmonics shown on the spectrum arelisted in the table of FIG. 2.

Since J_(−n)(a) equals −J_(n)(a) or J_(n)(a) for odd or even n,respectively, the amplitude of HR-mixing products for those who sharethe same J_(n)(a) should be equal. In other words, the ratios betweenrespiration and its DG harmonics should remain the same when they mixwith HR. For example, H_(HR+RR) equals to H_(HR−RR) after taking theabsolute value, and the ratios of H_(RR)/H_(2RR) andH_(HR−RR)/H_(HR−2RR) are the same. Therefore, the HR can be identifiedby knowing the respiration DG harmonics and their ratios. As a result,by categorizing DG harmonics contributed from respiration and heartbeatmovements, the HR peak is revealed.

Vibration-Generated Harmonics.

The aforementioned analyses are based on the assumption that thecardiorespiratory movement contains respiration and heartbeat which aresinusoidal vibrations. However, it is possible that the respiration orheartbeat movement itself already contains harmonics. The VG harmonicsshape the original respiration and heartbeat signal into non-sinusoidalvibrations. The odd-order VG harmonics will distort the waveform moreobviously, and create larger deviation in the amplitude ratio between DGharmonics.

Assume a movement as described by equation (9) with four differentcombinations:

$\begin{matrix}{{x(t)} = {\sum\limits_{k}\;{m_{k} \cdot {{\sin\left( {2{\pi \cdot {kf} \cdot t}} \right)}.}}}} & (9)\end{matrix}$

1) Sinusoidal vibration with k=1

2) Vibration containing 2nd VG harmonic with k=1, 2

3) Vibration containing 3rd VG harmonic with k=1, 3

4) Vibration containing 2nd & 3rd VG harmonics with k=1, 2, 3

To simplify the analysis, the vibration frequency can be normalized to 1Hz. Following equation (4), with k=1 the amplitude of DG harmonics inthe spectrum can be expressed as H_(x)(1), and the first three DGharmonics will be:H ₁(1)=J ₁(a ₁)H ₂(1)=J ₂(a ₁)H ₃(1)=J ₃(a ₁).  (10)On the other hand, following equations (3) and (4) by substitutingf_(h)=2 and f_(r)=1 to represent a vibration with the 1st and 2ndharmonics for vibration with k=1, 2, the amplitudes of the DG harmonicsin terms of H_(x)(1) will become:H ₁(1,2)=H ₁(1)J ₀(a ₂)+J ⁻¹(a ₁)J ₁(a ₂)H ₂(1,2)=H ₂(1)J ₀(a ₂)+J ₀(a ₁)J ₁(a ₂)H ₃(1,2)=H ₃(1)J ₀(a ₂)+J ₁(a ₁)J ₁(a ₂).  (11)FIG. 3 shows the theoretical plot of the value of the Bessel function ofthe first kind in 60 GHz: (a) the Bessel function J_(n)(a) versusvibration displacement, and (b) the composition of DG harmonics for H1,H2 and H3 for vibration with k=1, 2. FIG. 3(a) shows the Bessel functionvalue versus displacement. If the displacement of 2nd VG harmonic (k=2)is relatively small compared to the fundamental vibration (k=1), J₀(a₂)can be regarded as unity, and equation (11) becomes:H ₁(1,2)=H ₁(1)+J ⁻¹(a ₁)J ₁(a ₂)H ₂(1,2)=H ₂(1)+J ₀(a ₁)J ₁(a ₂)H ₃(1,2)=H ₃(1)+J ₁(a ₁)J ₁(a ₂).  (12)Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3(b), H_(x)(1,2) is the summation of the DGharmonic components contributed by the sinusoidal vibration (303) and bythe 2nd VG harmonic (306) which modifies the amplitudes of the observedharmonics according to the strength of the 2nd VG harmonic. When a₂ issmall, J₁(a₂)˜a₂ and equation (12) will approach the case of sinusoidalvibration described by equation (10) as a₂ approaches zero.

Four vibration patterns were examined through simulations. FIG. 4 showsthe normalized CSD spectrum of the four vibration patterns with comparedamplitude for the second and third DG harmonics (H2 and H3). Thespectrum of a sinusoidal vibration is presented in FIG. 4(a) withlabeled 2nd and 3rd DG harmonics (H2 and H3) as references in FIG. 4(b)with vibration containing the 2nd VG harmonic, 4(c) with vibrationcontaining the 3rd harmonic, and 4(d) with vibration containing the 2ndand 3rd VG harmonics. If the vibration contains the 2nd VG harmonic, thespectrum obtains higher H2 and H3 as shown in FIG. 4(b), which is alsoexplained by equation (11). If the vibration contains the 3rd VGharmonic, lower H2 and higher H3 can be seen in FIG. 4(c). For vibrationcontaining both 2nd & 3rd VG harmonics, their contributions are combinedas shown in FIG. 4(d).

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the displacement extraction with DGharmonic ratios under sinusoidal vibration, vibration containing 2nd VGharmonic, vibration containing 3^(rd) VG harmonic, and vibrationcontaining 2nd & 3rd VG harmonics. Actual displacement is the maximumdisplacement of the vibration and differs from the 0.9 mm displacementof the original sinusoidal vibration due to added harmonic components.

In FIG. 5, the displacement extraction using DG harmonic ratios withfundamental and second (Ratio12), second and third (Ratio23), andfundamental and third (Ratio13) over four vibration patterns arepresented. The actual displacement is the maximum displacement of thevibration movement. For sinusoidal vibration, the extracted displacementusing three DG harmonic ratios agrees with the actual displacement (0.9mm). The smallest displacement measurement error of those non-sinusoidalvibrations is obtained by using only Ratio12. It can also be observedfrom FIG. 5 that when the vibration contains more VG harmonics, it willcreate larger deviations by using Ratio13 and Ratio23. Since theodd-order VG harmonics significantly distort the signal compared toeven-order VG harmonics, the asymmetric waveform will create a largerdeviation from its original signal. Therefore, choosing the even-orderDG harmonics for displacement acquisition is expected to have smallererror. Another consideration is that H3 could be small due to tinydisplacement, and Ratio13 have larger error. As a result, using Ratio12is more reliable not only because it has the smallest average deviationerror, but also the 1st and the 2nd harmonics are the two strongestpeaks on the spectrum which are more resistant to noise.

The minimum displacement that radar can accurately measure is determinedby the carrier frequency. With a higher frequency and shorterwavelength, the nonlinear phase demodulation effect can be significantand the DG harmonics become more obvious, making the displacementacquisition easier. Small animals like laboratory rats have faster RRand HR, which are associated with smaller chestwall displacements. Inorder to detect rat's cardiorespiratory movement, a 60 GHz radar wasused for its capability of detecting small vibrations and producingstronger DG harmonics.

Radar Detection Range for Sub-Millimeter Displacement Acquisition.

In order to extract the displacement of cardiorespiratory movement,several DG harmonic ratios should be obtained first. The displacementscan be calculated from the ratios of Bessel functions given in equations(6) and (7). The theoretical DG harmonic ratio versus displacement isshown in FIG. 6, and four ratio traces are presented with the 60 GHzradar detection range indicated with the measurable ratios. Since it isnot accurate to measure too small or too large of a ratio, themeasurable ratio from 0.2 to 10 was selected, with the detection rangeswith different ratios also indicated. The J₀/J₁ can be used forheartbeat displacement acquisition, with a detectable range that cancover down to 0.08 mm. By using J₁/J₂, it is possible to detectrespiration displacement down to 0.17 mm. The J₂/J₃ has the widestdetection range, however, it may suffer from a large deviation ifmovement contains VG harmonics. If the rat's respiration displacement isin the normal range from 0.62 to 1.57 mm without any drug effect, bothJ₁/J₂ and J₁/J₃ can be used to increase the detection accuracy.

Experimental Results with 60 GHz CMOS Radar.

Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, shown is a graphical representation of anexperimental setup for measuring cardiorespiratory movement of alaboratory rat in a whole body plethysmography chamber. The experimentalsetup used a 60 GHz CMOS radar for non-contact measurement of thelaboratory rat's cardiorespiratory movement. An arterial catheter (e.g.,FC-M-37L, Braintree Scientific Inc., Braintree, Mass., USA) was placedin the femoral artery of an anesthetized adult rat and then the rat wasplaced in the whole body plethysmograph (e.g., chamber volume 4 L; BuxcoElectronic Inc., Wilmington, N.C., USA). The arterial catheter wasthreaded through the top of the chamber and connected to a calibratedpressure transducer (e.g., Stoelting, Woodale, Ill., USA). Oxygen (100%)was delivered to the chamber at a rate of 2 L/min. The plethysmographwas fitted with a pressure transducer (e.g., TRD5700Buxco ElectronicInc.). The arterial pressure signal and analog output from theplethysmograph pressure transducer were recorded online (e.g., with asampling frequency of 200 Hz) via a data acquisition interface (e.g.,Power1404, Cambridge Electronic Design (CED), Cambridge, U.K.) connectedto a computing device (e.g., a laptop computer) equipped with acomplimentary data analysis software system (e.g., Spike2, CED,Cambridge, U.K.). Off-line Spike2 subroutines were used to identifypeaks in the arterial pressure and plethysmograph pressure traces, whichcorresponded to the time of peak systolic arterial pressure and peakinspiratory pressure, respectively. HR and RR were calculated as:60/(peak-to-peak interval). Respiratory movement, blood pressure (BP)and HR were simultaneously recorded with Spike2 software (200 Hzsampling rate) for reference. The radar system included a 60-GHzflip-chip transceiver chip (90-nm CMOS) integrated with patch antennason a RT/duroid 5870 laminate, and powered by a battery. The powerconsumption was 377 mW at 1.2-V power supply, and the transmit power was0 dBm.

The radar was placed at 0.3 m from the plethysmograph to detect therat's movements, and the received quadrature signals were sampled by aNational Instruments data acquisition board (DAQ) and before being sentto, e.g., a laptop for signal processing. Anesthesia was induced withurethane (1.3 mg/kg). In addition to measuring an anesthetized rat usingradar to extract both frequencies and displacements of its respirationand heartbeat using the method previously described, two drug tests withraised BP (phenylephrine) and dropped BP (atropine) for longermonitoring period were also performed. A Labview program concurrentlyrecorded the rat's cardiorespiratory movement and the output wascompared with simultaneous recordings made with the Spike2 software. Forhealthy adult rats, the typical RR ranges from 0.5-2.2 Hz and HR rangesfrom 5-7 Hz. A Butterworth band-pass filter was set from 0.1 Hz to 13 Hzto eliminate the DC and high frequency interference that introduced fromsurrounding noise and wire electronic noise.

Three experiments were conducted when measuring the rats underanesthesia. It was found that the average error for either the RR or HRcomparison was less than 0.1% in the three experiments. FIG. 8illustrates the results of the cardiorespiratory movement measurementsof experiment #1. FIG. 8(a) shows the normalized measured basebandspectrum at 0-15 s. By utilizing the DG harmonics generated in thespectrum as labeled, the measured rate and calculated displacement canbe determined. The results are listed in the table of FIG. 9. The ratioof H_(RR)/H_(2RR) was used for calculating respiration displacement, andH_(RR)/H_(HR−RR) and H_(2RR)/H_(HR−2RR) were both chosen for heartbeatdisplacement extraction.

Applying the CSD technique, the received complex signal was generated bycombining I and Q baseband outputs. Since the displacement wascomparable to the wavelength, the nonlinear Doppler phase modulationeffect was significant and the rat's cardiorespiratory signal containsharmonics and intermodulation products from both respiration (f_(r)) andheartbeat (f_(h)), expressed as:

$\begin{matrix}{{H_{x} = {{{\sum\limits_{p = {- \infty}}^{\infty}\;{\sum\limits_{q = {{({x - {f_{h}p}})}/f_{r}}}^{\infty}\;{{J_{p}\left( a_{h} \right)}{J_{q}\left( a_{r} \right)}}}}} \cdot {e^{j\; 2\pi\;{xt}}}}},} & (13)\end{matrix}$where a_(h)=4πm _(h)/λ and a_(r)=4πm _(r)/λ, m_(r) and m_(h) arerespiration and heartbeat displacement, J(a) is the first kind Besselfunction, x Hz represents the harmonic frequency, p and q are integers,and λ is the carrier wavelength.

The harmonics shown in the baseband spectrum of FIG. 8(a) can be groupedinto two categories: the respiration and its harmonics, and thefrequency mixing products of RR and HR. The respiration harmonics arelabeled and the frequency mixing products are identified and used todetermine the correct HR peak. Similar to intermodulation or frequencymixing, the HR mixes with RR and its harmonics, resulting in the mixingproducts in the detected spectrum. It should be noted that the frequencymixing products are symmetrically centered around the HR peak becausethey share the same Bessel function coefficient on a_(h). The measuredRR and HR were 0.66 Hz and 6.73 Hz, respectively.

After the RR and HR are extracted, the m_(h) and m_(r) can be obtained.The ratio of the two strongest harmonics in the spectrum,H_(0.66)/H_(1.35), was used for calculating the m_(r). For heartbeatdisplacement, two harmonic pairs, H_(1.35)/H_(5.39) andH_(0.66)/H_(6.04), were chosen because they contain the informationinvolving different J_(p)(a_(h)) with the same J_(q)(a_(r)). Therefore,the same J_(q)(a_(r)) can be cancelled out by taking the ratio, leavingthe J_(p)(a_(h)) only for calculating m_(h).

FIG. 8(b) shows the monitored RR and HR records over the 47 sobservation time and 8(c) shows the displacement variations of bothrespiration and heartbeat versus time. Each data point was obtained byusing a 15 s time window. The variations of both rates and displacementswithin the measurement time can be observed. Both RR and HR show anincreasing trend within the 47 s recording time, in which each datapoint represents a 15 s time slot.

Experiment #2 was performed on three different rats on different datesunder anesthesia. FIG. 10 shows the correlation diagram ofinstrument-recorded data and the radar-recorded data for the three testsubjects. FIG. 10(a) is a plot the respiration rate (RR) and FIG. 10(b)is a plot of the heart rate (HR). The variability in HR and RR may beattributed to how the urethane was delivered to the test subjects. Theaverage error of either the RR or HR comparison ranged between 0.057%and 0.33%.

Experiment #3 was a drug test using two different drugs. Since a bodyneeds some settling time to react after drug injection, and theraised/dropped RRs varied with time significantly, the time window wasshorten from 15 s to 5 s to see the instant changes. FIGS. 11 and 12show the respiratory movement variations with a 200 s total observationtime, with the drug-injected points labeled. FIG. 11 illustrates the (a)respiratory displacement variation and (b) RR variation forphenylephrine. The reflexively slowed HR and RR were induced withphenylephrine which raised the BP. It can be observed from FIG. 11(b)that the RR dropped from 100 to 75 Breath/min (BR/min) after injectionand stayed relatively unchanged for 50 s. During the 50 s period, thedisplacement fluctuated and increased from minimum 0.9 to maximum 1.092mm which increased by 20%. After that, the RR slowly recovered to itsnormal range with constant fluctuations in displacement. FIG. 12illustrates the (a) respiratory displacement variation and (b) RRvariation for atropine. The dropped BP was induced with atropine. Thedrug took around 20 s to activate as color-labeled. RR slowly sped upwhen the drug became effective, and respiratory displacement slowlydecreased by 26% following the raised RR.

It was found that the HR amplitude became weaker if a drug was inducedin the experiment. The drug effect makes respiratory movement muchlarger which suppress the HR amplitude in the detected spectrum. Inaddition, the large respiratory displacement will also make J₀ in theHR-mixing products close to the zero-crossing point, which furtherdegrades the HR amplitude in spectrum.

Adaptive HCNDF for Removing Respiration Harmonics

Referring next to FIG. 13A, shown is an example of the adaptiveharmonics comb notch digital filter (HCNDF), which comprises multiplenotch frequencies at respiration and its harmonics, using the determinedrespiration rate (RR) and extracted displacement. Unlike a comb filter,the HCNDF is based on a Fourier transform of the detected signal thatutilizes the harmonics generated in the spectrum due to the demodulationmethod, and extract the displacement of respiratory movement by theratio of harmonic amplitudes. After applying the filter in the originalspectrum, the respiration harmonics can be removed without removing theheartbeat signal. Experiments were conducted using a 60-GHz CMOS radar.Since a rat's vital sign movement is much smaller compared to humanvital sign movement, 60 GHz radar which is capable of detecting smallvibrations and producing stronger harmonics in nonlinear Doppler phasedemodulation is used in this work. Measurements of conscious rat,anesthetized rat, and drug-induced high blood pressure (BP) rat with andwithout the HCNDF are compared to verify the proposed technique.

The detected baseband signal in I and Q channels can be combined by theCSD method, and expressed as:

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{B(t)} = {{I + {jQ}} = {{\cos\left\lbrack {\frac{4\pi\;{x_{h}(t)}}{\lambda} + \frac{4\pi\;{x_{r}(t)}}{\lambda} + \phi} \right\rbrack}\mspace{211mu}\left( {14a} \right)}}} \\{= {{{J_{0}\left( a_{h} \right)}{\sum\limits_{q = {- \infty}}^{\infty}\;{{J_{q}\left( a_{r} \right)} \cdot e^{j\; 2{\pi{({f_{r}q})}}t} \cdot e^{j\;\phi}}}} + \mspace{230mu}\left( {14b} \right)}} \\{{{J_{1}\left( a_{h} \right)}{\sum\limits_{q = {- \infty}}^{\infty}\;{{J_{q}\left( a_{r} \right)} \cdot e^{j\; 2{\pi{({{f_{r}q} + f_{h}})}}t} \cdot e^{j\;\phi}}}} + {\ldots\mspace{14mu}.\mspace{149mu}\left( {14c} \right)}}\end{matrix} & \;\end{matrix}$The equation comprises RR and its harmonics, and their mixing productswith HR as (14b) and (14c), respectively. J(a) is the first kind Besselfunction, a_(h)=4πm_(h)/λ and a_(r)=4πm_(r)/λ, m_(r) and m_(h) aredisplacements of respiration (f_(r)) and heartbeat (f_(h)), p and q areintegers, is the carrier wavelength of radar signal, and ϕ is the totalresidual phase which can be neglected due to the constant envelope ofunity.

After taking the FFT of the baseband signal, f_(r) can be determined.Since the respiratory movement is not an ideal single tone or symmetricmovement, the first and second harmonics can be chosen for m_(r)extraction which can be expressed as:

$\begin{matrix}{m_{r} = {\frac{{J_{0}\left( a_{h} \right)}{J_{1}\left( a_{r} \right)}}{{J_{0}\left( a_{h} \right)}{J_{2}\left( a_{r} \right)}} = {\frac{J_{1}\left( a_{r} \right)}{J_{2}\left( a_{r} \right)}.}}} & (15)\end{matrix}$FIG. 14 shows the theoretical plot of the 60-GHz nonlinear Doppler phasedemodulation effect: (a) the Bessel function J_(n)(a) versus vibrationdisplacement, and (b) the of the 60 GHz nonlinear Doppler phasedemodulation effect. The Bessel function versus vibration displacementat 60 GHz is shown in FIG. 14(a). If the displacement exceeds 1.15 mm,J₂ will be larger than J₁, which will result in a higher second harmonicand lower first harmonic. FIG. 14(b) shows the harmonic amplitude variedwith displacements. The spectrum is normalized and is independent of themeasurement distance between radar and target; hence no calibration isneeded.

Using the respiration spectrum to design a comb notch filter, the notchattenuation at each notch frequency is adaptive to the respirationdisplacement. FIG. 13B shows an example of an implementation of theadaptive HCNDF. The difference equation describing the filter can beexpressed as:y(n)=J(z)[x(n)+x(n−L)]−ay(n−L),  (16)where a is the feedback gain which determines the bandwidth (BW), andJ(z) is a function of the notch attenuation gain contributed from theBessel coefficients of respiration, which can be expressed as:

$\begin{matrix}{{J(z)} = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{L}\;{{J_{i}\left( a_{r} \right)}.}}} & (17)\end{matrix}$

The transfer function with z-transform of the HCNDF can be expressed as:

$\begin{matrix}{{H(z)} = {\frac{{J(z)}\left( {1 + z^{- L}} \right)}{1 + {az}^{- L}}.}} & (18)\end{matrix}$The filter has poles to introduce a resonance in the vicinity and reducethe BW of the notch, and zeros at:z=e ^(jω) ^(k) , k=0,1,2, . . . ,L−1  (19)The frequency response of the filter as shown in FIG. 13A that|H(e^(jω))| has L notches at ω_(k)=(2k+1)π/L in the frequency band, andthe first notch occurs at ω₀=2πf _(r).

After applying the HCNDF in the detected signal, the output of thefilter can be expressed as:

$\begin{matrix}{{Y(t)} = {{{J_{1}\left( a_{h} \right)}{\sum\limits_{q = {- \infty}}^{\infty}\;{{J_{q}\left( a_{r} \right)} \cdot e^{j\; 2{\pi{({{f_{r}q} + f_{h}})}}t} \cdot e^{j\;\phi}}}} + {{J_{2}\left( a_{h} \right)}{\sum\limits_{q = {- \infty}}^{\infty}\;{{J_{q}\left( a_{r} \right)} \cdot e^{j\; 2{\pi{({{f_{r}q} + {2\; f_{h}}})}}t} \cdot e^{j\;\phi}}}} + {\ldots\mspace{14mu}.}}} & (20)\end{matrix}$Compared to the equation of (14a-14c), the RR harmonics (14b) isremoved, only the HR mixing products with RR remain. The HCNDF will notremove the heartbeat even if the HR is overlapping with the RRharmonics. The BW of the filter stop-band can depend on the observationwindow length. If the observation interval of the signal is limited, thespectrum resolution will be low and suffer from spectral leakages. As aresult, the BW can be adjusted following the resolution to filter outthe unwanted harmonics.

Experimental Results with 60 GHz CMOS Radar.

Referring to FIG. 15, shown is a graphical representation of theexperimental setup used for measuring the laboratory rat in a whole bodyplethysmography chamber. The experiment uses the 60-GHz CMOS radar fornoncontact measuring the laboratory rat's cardiorespiratory movement. Asdescribed above, the system includes a 60 GHz flip-chip radartransceiver (90 nm CMOS) and two patch antennas for TX and RX onRT/duroid 5870 laminate which is powered by a battery. Transmit power is0 dBm, and the total power consumption is 377 mW at 1.2 V power supply.

Following instrumentation, the rat was placed in the whole bodyplethysmograph and an arterial catheter was placed in the femoralartery. BP, HR, RR and movement were simultaneously recorded with Spike2software (200 Hz sampling rate per channel) as reference. The radar wasplaced at 0.3 m from the cage to detect the rat's vital signs, and thereceived I/Q signals were sampled by a data acquisition model and sentto a laptop for processing.

Measurements were conducted under three scenarios for comparison: (a)with a conscious rat with random body movement, (b) with an anesthetizedrat induced with urethane, and (c) with an anesthetized rat with high BP(low or dropped HR) induced with phenylephrine. The observation time was20 s, and the BW of the HCNDF was set to 0.25 Hz to ensure the harmonicscould be properly removed.

FIGS. 16A, 16B and 16C show the measurement spectrums under thedifferent test scenarios with the radar-recorded spectrum beforefiltering shown in the top plots, the NCNDF frequency response andspectrum after filtering shown in the middle plots, and the spectrumafter filtering with HR identified shown in the bottom plots. As can beseen from FIG. 16A, the radar-measured RR for the conscious rat was 1.58Hz and the calculated m_(r) was 0.742 mm. Using the extracted RR anddisplacement from radar-recorded data for the anesthetized rat, theHCNDF was constructed and implemented as FIG. 16B. The radar-measured HRwas 6.1 Hz. In this test, the signal level was not good enough tosuppress the noise floor since the rat was conscious with random bodymovement.

Compared with the conscious rat, anesthesia of the rat resulted inlarger chest-wall movement so the nonlinear effect was more significant.The radar-measured RR was 1.632 Hz and the calculated m_(r) was 1.061mm. FIG. 16B shows the radar-measured HR at 6.088 Hz. In this test, theHR mixing products in low frequency were enlarged by the spectralleakage of the RR harmonics, so there were more frequency mixingproducts in the low frequency range than in the high frequency.

For the high BP (hypertensive) rat of FIG. 16C, the radar-measured RRwas 1.213 Hz and the calculated m_(r) was 0.991 mm. In FIG. 16C, the HRpeak cannot be identified from the original unfiltered spectrum (topplot). After filtering, the HR appeared at 3.638 Hz, which was exactlycovered by the 3rd harmonic of the RR, and the frequency mixing productsin high frequency spectrum can be seen.

FIGS. 17A, 17B and 17C are correlation diagrams illustratinginstrumentation calculated HR and radar-measured HR with and withoutapplying the HCNDF. The plots are based on measurements of the consciousrat, the anesthetized rat and the drug-induced hypertensive rat,respectively. As shown in the correlation diagrams, the circles indicateradar measurements with HCNDF filtering and the crosses indicate radarmeasurements without HCNDF filtering. In FIG. 17A, the average error ofHR detection is 0.39% with or without cancellation. The average error ofthe HR measurement in FIG. 17B was reduced from 0.82% to 0.19% afterapplying the filter. The error of the HR detection was further reducedfrom 90% to 1.8% in FIG. 17C, which is the overlapped case. Mostimportantly, the method corrected the radar-measured HR that had a largeerror due to the strong interference from the respiration harmonics.

Referring next to FIG. 18, shown is a flow chart illustrating an exampleof cardiorespiratory evaluation using the HCNDF. Beginning with 1803,cardiorespiratory motion data is measured by a radar unit. For example,a 60 GHz radar can be used to measure cardiorespiratory motion ofanimals (e.g., laboratory rats) for determination of the HR. At 1809,the RR and/or the respiration displacement can be determined from thecardiorespiratory motion data. For example, the radar-measuredcardiorespiratory data can be used to determine respirationdisplacement. The determination can be based upon the respirationfundamental frequency and/or respiration demodulation-generated (DG)harmonics identified from the radar-measured cardiorespiratory data. Inaddition, the RR can be identified from the fundamental frequency and/orharmonics of the fundamental frequency.

Features of the HCNDF can then be adjusted at 1809, based upon therespiration displacement and/or RR. Features that can be adjusted caninclude notch depth, notch frequency, and notch width. One or more ofthe features can be adjusted based upon the determined displacementand/or RR. The notch frequencies are based on the respirationfundamental frequency and its harmonics. For example, the HCNDF caninclude notches that correspond to the fundamental frequency (f_(r)),the second harmonic (2f_(r)), the third harmonic (3f_(r)), the fourthharmonic (4f_(r)), and the fifth harmonic (5f_(r)), as shown in FIG.13A, or some other combination of fundamental and harmonics. As the RRfrequency changes, the notch frequencies can be adjusted accordingly.

Notch depths can also be adjusted based upon amplitudes of therespiration fundamental frequency and the respiration DG harmonics. Forexample, the notch depths can be based upon one or more ratios of therespiration fundamental frequency and the respiration DG harmonics. Insome implementations, the notch depth at the fundamental frequency canbe based upon the respiration amplitudes, and the notch depths at theharmonic frequencies can be based upon a defined relationship with thenotch depth at the fundamental frequency. The notch widths can also beadjusted. The widths can be based on the time window used to obtain thecardiorespiratory motion data. As the time window changes, the spectralresolution changes. As the time window increases, the notch width can bedecreased. As the time window decreases, the notch width can beincreased. For example, the notch widths can have a defined relationshipwith the length of the time window. As the time window changes, thenotch widths can be changed in response to the change in the length ofthe time window.

At 1812, the cardiorespiratory motion data can be filtered using theHCNDF to generate filtered cardiorespiratory data, which can be used toidentify the HR of the subject. The filtering can facilitateidentification of a HR that falls on or near one of the respirationharmonics. As indicated, the flow chart can return to 1803 to repeat theprocess. In this way, the HCNDF can adaptively adjust to changingconditions of the subject. The evaluation to determine the HR can becarried out by a computing device that receives the cardiorespiratorymotion data from the radar, or can be implemented by processingcircuitry in the radar itself.

With reference to FIG. 19, shown is a schematic block diagram of acomputing system 1900 in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The computing system 1900 includes at least oneprocessor circuit, for example, having a processor 1903 and a memory1906, both of which are coupled to a local interface 1909. To this end,the computing system 1900 may comprise, for example, at least onecomputer, tablet, smart phone, or like computing device. The localinterface 1909 may comprise, for example, a data bus with anaccompanying address/control bus or other bus structure as can beappreciated. In addition, the computing system 1900 includes operatorinterface devices such as, e.g., a display device 1912, a keyboard 1915,and/or a mouse 1918. In some implementations, the operator interfacedevice may be interactive display 1921 (e.g., a touch screen) thatprovides various functionality for operator interaction with thecomputing system 1900. Various imaging systems such as, e.g., radarimaging device 1924 may also interface with the computing system 1900 toallow for acquisition of signal measurements from a subject. In someimplementations, the radar imaging device 1924 may interface with thecomputing system 1900 via a data acquisition board (DAQ) or otherinterfacing device. In some embodiments, the radar imaging device 1924may be an array of detectors configured to be positioned about themonitored object or volume.

Stored in the memory 1906 are both data and several components that areexecutable by the processor 1903. In particular, stored in the memory1906 and executable by the processor 1903 are various applicationmodules or programs such as, e.g., a cardiorespiratory module,application, or program 1927 for evaluation of signal measurements fromthe radar imaging device 1924 using an adaptive harmonics comb notchdigital filter (HCNDF), and/or other applications. Also stored in thememory 1906 may be a data store 1930 and other data. In addition, anoperating system 1933 may be stored in the memory 1906 and executable bythe processor 1903.

It is understood that there may be other applications that are stored inthe memory 1906 and are executable by the processor 1903 as can beappreciated. Where any component discussed herein is implemented in theform of software, any one of a number of programming languages may beemployed such as, for example, C, C++, C#, Objective C, Java®,JavaScript®, Perl, PHP, Visual Basic®, Python®, Ruby, Delphi®, Flash®,or other programming languages.

A number of software components are stored in the memory 1906 and areexecutable by the processor 1903. In this respect, the term “executable”means a program file that is in a form that can ultimately be run by theprocessor 1903. Examples of executable programs may be, for example, acompiled program that can be translated into machine code in a formatthat can be loaded into a random access portion of the memory 1906 andrun by the processor 1903, source code that may be expressed in properformat such as object code that is capable of being loaded into a randomaccess portion of the memory 1906 and executed by the processor 1903, orsource code that may be interpreted by another executable program togenerate instructions in a random access portion of the memory 1906 tobe executed by the processor 1903, etc. An executable program may bestored in any portion or component of the memory 1906 including, forexample, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard drive,solid-state drive, USB flash drive, memory card, optical disc such ascompact disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, magnetictape, or other memory components.

The memory 1906 is defined herein as including both volatile andnonvolatile memory and data storage components. Volatile components arethose that do not retain data values upon loss of power. Nonvolatilecomponents are those that retain data upon a loss of power. Thus, thememory 1906 may comprise, for example, random access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM), hard disk drives, solid-state drives, USB flashdrives, memory cards accessed via a memory card reader, floppy disksaccessed via an associated floppy disk drive, optical discs accessed viaan optical disc drive, magnetic tapes accessed via an appropriate tapedrive, and/or other memory components, or a combination of any two ormore of these memory components. In addition, the RAM may comprise, forexample, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random accessmemory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM) and other suchdevices. The ROM may comprise, for example, a programmable read-onlymemory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), anelectrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or otherlike memory device.

Also, the processor 1903 may represent multiple processors 1903 and thememory 1906 may represent multiple memories 1906 that operate inparallel processing circuits, respectively. In such a case, the localinterface 1909 may be an appropriate network that facilitatescommunication between any two of the multiple processors 1903, betweenany processor 1903 and any of the memories 1906, or between any two ofthe memories 1906, etc. The processor 1903 may be of electrical or ofsome other available construction.

Although the cardiorespiratory (or cardiorespiratory evaluation) module,application, or program 1927 and other various systems described hereinmay be embodied in software or code executed by general purpose hardwareas discussed above, as an alternative the same may also be embodied indedicated hardware or a combination of software/general purpose hardwareand dedicated hardware. If embodied in dedicated hardware, each can beimplemented as a circuit or state machine that employs any one of or acombination of a number of technologies. These technologies may include,but are not limited to, discrete logic circuits having logic gates forimplementing various logic functions upon an application of one or moredata signals, application specific integrated circuits havingappropriate logic gates, or other components, etc. Such technologies aregenerally well known by those skilled in the art and, consequently, arenot described in detail herein.

Although the flow chart of FIG. 18 shows a specific order of execution,it is understood that the order of execution may differ from that whichis depicted. For example, the order of execution of two or more blocksmay be scrambled relative to the order shown. Also, two or more blocksshown in succession in FIG. 18 may be executed concurrently or withpartial concurrence. Further, in some embodiments, one or more of theblocks shown in FIG. 18 may be skipped or omitted. In addition, anynumber of counters, state variables, warning semaphores, or messagesmight be added to the logical flow described herein, for purposes ofenhanced utility, accounting, performance measurement, or providingtroubleshooting aids, etc. It is understood that all such variations arewithin the scope of the present disclosure.

Also, any logic or application described herein, including thecardiorespiratory module, application, or program 1927 and/orapplication(s), that comprises software or code can be embodied in anynon-transitory computer-readable medium for use by or in connection withan instruction execution system such as, for example, a processor 1903in a computer system or other system. In this sense, the logic maycomprise, for example, statements including instructions anddeclarations that can be fetched from the computer-readable medium andexecuted by the instruction execution system. In the context of thepresent disclosure, a “computer-readable medium” can be any medium thatcan contain, store, or maintain the logic or application describedherein for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem. The computer-readable medium can comprise any one of manyphysical media such as, for example, magnetic, optical, or semiconductormedia. More specific examples of a suitable computer-readable mediumwould include, but are not limited to, magnetic tapes, magnetic floppydiskettes, magnetic hard drives, memory cards, solid-state drives, USBflash drives, or optical discs. Also, the computer-readable medium maybe a random access memory (RAM) including, for example, static randomaccess memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), ormagnetic random access memory (MRAM). In addition, the computer-readablemedium may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory(PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), anelectrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or othertype of memory device.

In this disclosure, cardiorespiratory movement was analyzed and aguideline of implementing the displacement acquisition method wasprovided. Two groups of DG harmonics shown on the detected basebandspectrum were analyzed, and then used to identify the unknown HR. Theselected DG harmonic ratios were examined through four vibrationpatterns: sinusoidal vibration, vibration containing the 2nd VGharmonic, vibration containing the 3rd VG harmonic, and vibrationcontaining the 2nd & 3rd VG harmonics. Simulation results showed thatthe ratio of the 1st and the 2nd harmonics was the most reliable ratioto calculate the respiration displacement. Experiments were performedusing anesthetized rats. The function of simultaneously measuring bothdisplacements and frequencies of the cardiorespiratory movements (bothrespiration and heartbeat) using a 60 GHz radar was verified.

An adaptive HCNDF for removing respiration harmonics due to nonlinearDoppler phase demodulation effects was implemented. The experimentalresults demonstrated that the filter can be useful for HR measurement ina laboratory rat, which not only reduces the average error when theheartbeat is overwhelmed by respiratory movement, but also helps toidentify the HR when it completely overlaps with the RR harmonics.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations setforth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure.Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-describedembodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit andprinciples of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure andprotected by the following claims.

It should be noted that ratios, concentrations, amounts, and othernumerical data may be expressed herein in a range format. It is to beunderstood that such a range format is used for convenience and brevity,and thus, should be interpreted in a flexible manner to include not onlythe numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, butalso to include all the individual numerical values or sub-rangesencompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-rangeis explicitly recited. To illustrate, a concentration range of “about0.1% to about 5%” should be interpreted to include not only theexplicitly recited concentration of about 0.1 wt % to about 5 wt %, butalso include individual concentrations (e.g., 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%) andthe sub-ranges (e.g., 0.5%, 1.1%, 2.2%, 3.3%, and 4.4%) within theindicated range. The term “about” can include traditional roundingaccording to significant figures of numerical values. In addition, thephrase “about ‘x’ to ‘y’” includes “about ‘x’ to about ‘y’”.

Therefore, at least the following is claimed:
 1. A method for heart rate measurement, comprising: determining, with a computing device, a respiratory rate (RR) and respiration displacement from radar-measured cardiorespiratory motion data, wherein the radar-measured cardiorespiratory motion data is obtained using a 60 GHz radar; adjusting, with the computing device, notch depths of a harmonics comb notch digital filter (HCNDF) based upon the respiration displacement; generating, with the computing device, filtered cardiorespiratory data by filtering the radar-measured cardiorespiratory motion data with the HCNDF; and identifying a heart rate (HR) from the filtered cardiorespiratory data.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the respiration displacement is determined from a respiration fundamental frequency and respiration demodulation-generated (DG) harmonics identified from the radar-measured cardiorespiratory motion data.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the notch depths are based upon amplitudes of the respiration fundamental frequency and the respiration DG harmonics or are based upon one or more ratios of the respiration fundamental frequency and the respiration DG harmonics.
 4. The method of claim 1, comprising adjusting notch frequencies of the HCNDF based upon the RR.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the notch frequencies of the HCNDF correspond to a fundamental frequency of the RR and harmonics of the fundamental frequency.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the HCNDF comprises notches corresponding to the fundamental frequency of the RR, a second harmonic frequency, and a third harmonic frequency.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the HCNDF further comprises notches corresponding to a fourth harmonic frequency and a fifth harmonic frequency.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein notch widths of the HCNDF are based upon a length of a time window over which the radar-measured cardiorespiratory motion data was obtained.
 9. The method of claim 8, comprising adjusting the notch widths of the HCNDF in response to a change in the length of the time window.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the notch widths are reduced in response to an increase in the length of the time window.
 11. A system, comprising: radar circuitry configured to transmit a single-tone carrier signal and receive a cardiorespiratory motion signal reflected from a monitored subject, the radar circuitry comprising a Doppler radar transceiver coupled to transmit and receive antennas, wherein a radar transceiver chip comprises the radar circuitry and patch antennas as the transmit and receive antennas, where the radar transceiver chip and the patch antennas are disposed on a common substrate; and signal processing circuitry configured to: determine a respiration displacement from cardiorespiratory motion data based upon the cardiorespiratory motion signal; adjust notch depths of a harmonics comb notch digital filter (HCNDF) based upon the respiration displacement; generate filtered cardiorespiratory data by filtering the cardiorespiratory motion data with the HCNDF; and identify a heart rate (HR) from the filtered cardiorespiratory data.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the notch depths are based upon amplitudes of a respiration fundamental frequency and respiration demodulation-generated (DG) harmonics identified from the cardiorespiratory motion data.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the signal processing circuitry is further configured to adjust notch frequencies of the HCNDF based upon a respiratory rate (RR) determined from the cardiorespiratory motion data.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein notch widths of the HCNDF are based upon a length of a time window over which the cardiorespiratory motion data was determined.
 15. A system, comprising: radar circuitry configured to transmit a single-tone carrier signal and receive a cardiorespiratory motion signal reflected from a monitored subject, the radar circuitry comprising a Doppler radar transceiver coupled to transmit and receive antennas, wherein the Doppler radar transceiver operates at 60 GHz; and signal processing circuitry configured to: determine a respiration displacement from cardiorespiratory motion data based upon the cardiorespiratory motion signal; adjust notch depths of a harmonics comb notch digital filter (HCNDF) based upon the respiration displacement; generate filtered cardiorespiratory data by filtering the cardiorespiratory motion data with the HCNDF; and identify a heart rate (HR) from the filtered cardiorespiratory data.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the signal processing circuitry comprises data acquisition circuitry configured to sample quadrature signals of the cardiorespiratory motion signal and a processor configured to determine the respiration displacement and identify the HR based upon the sampled quadrature signals.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the respiration displacement is determined from a respiration fundamental frequency and respiration demodulation-generated (DG) harmonics identified from the cardiorespiratory motion data.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the notch depths are based upon amplitudes of the respiration fundamental frequency and the respiration DG harmonics.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein the signal processing circuitry is further configured to adjust notch frequencies of the HCNDF based upon a respiratory rate (RR) determined from the cardiorespiratory motion data.
 20. The system of claim 15, wherein notch widths of the HCNDF are based upon a length of a time window over which the cardiorespiratory motion data was determined. 